"Charles," Philip said now, "I think the board needs all the underlying documents, not another summary."
"You sound like Margaret," Charles replied. "That's not a compliment."
"It wasn't meant to be one," Philip said, surprising himself. He waited for the familiar correction, but Charles merely told him to be in the office before eight and ended the call. Philip sat still for a few minutes, then opened an archived email containing the concerns Aisha had sent before leaving. He had not deleted it, despite having promised Charles he would keep the matter within his department.
At twelve forty, Charles called a lawyer who specialized in executive compensation. The lawyer had reviewed the acquisition documents weeks earlier and warned him that the contingent portion of his equity package depended on continued employment and compliance with governance standards. Charles had dismissed the warning at the time because he assumed he would be promoted and the condition would never arise. Now he asked whether the clause could be challenged if a buyer terminated an executive for personal reasons.
"It can be challenged if the facts support that," the lawyer answered. "But there has to be a reason to challenge it. If there is evidence of serious policy violations, the board may have grounds for a for-cause decision. The agreement has procedures, and those procedures matter."
"A dinner disagreement is not cause," Charles said.
"A dinner disagreement by itself probably isn't," the lawyer agreed. "But I wasn't asking only about dinner. Has anyone raised questions about related-party transactions, disclosures, or expense approvals?"
Charles looked toward the window. For the first time he considered lying to a lawyer he was paying to defend him, and the possibility frightened him more than he liked. "There have been routine inquiries," he said eventually. The lawyer told him to bring every relevant contract and not to contact potential witnesses about what they should say.
Charles promised he understood and almost immediately considered calling Garrett from procurement to remind him how Northbridge's services should be described. He opened the contact on his phone and stared at the screen until it dimmed. The lawyer's warning returned to him, followed by the image of Isaiah sliding a business card across the dinner table. He put the phone down and poured another drink.
Across the city, Isaiah was not celebrating. He had returned to his apartment, changed out of his suit, and spent half an hour on the telephone with Victoria. They reviewed the final ownership transfer process, the board's authority after closing, and the risk that Charles would react badly to a public loss of status. Isaiah instructed her to preserve every communication connected with the Northbridge review and to make the conflict procedures explicit at the morning meeting.
"He's frightened," Victoria observed. "A frightened executive with access to records can do damage before he leaves."
"Then don't give him unsupervised access after the board acts," Isaiah said. "But don't treat fear as proof of guilt. We have to distinguish the decisions we can make tomorrow from the allegations that still require investigation."